Reviewer Conny Withay:Operating her own business
in office management since 1991, Conny is an avid reader and
volunteers with the elderly playing her designed The Write Word Game.
A cum laude graduate with a degree in art living in the Pacific
Northwest, she is married with two sons, two daughters-in-law, and
three grandchildren.

“The charismatic quest
for extrabiblical revelation, ecstatic experiences, subjective
guidance, unrestrained emotionalism, and material prosperity
represents a massive danger. In the same way a child should avoid
matches, believers ought to stay away from the strange fire of
unacceptable charismatic worship and practice,” John MacArthur
states in his book, Strange Fire.

At three hundred and
thirty-four pages, this hardback book is targeted toward readers who
want to understand the cessationist verses continualist’s beliefs
of specific spiritual gifts, speaking in tongues, and prosperity
theology in the Charismatic Movement today. Written by a well-known
pastor-teacher of Biblical doctrine, mainly the New King James
version of the Bible is used along with references from the NASB,
NIV, and ESV.

After an introduction
referring to the Old Testament story of Nadab and Abihu offering as
strange fire to the Lord and being consumed in flames, MacArthur
divides the book into three parts: Confronting a Counterfeit Revival,
Exposing the Counterfeit Gifts, and Rediscovering the Spirit’s True
Work, followed by acknowledgements, an appendix, fifty pages of
notes, both topical and Scriptural indexes, and the author’s
biography.

First giving a history of
the Pentecostal/Charismatic movements, MacArthur states there are a
half billion charismatics in the world today who create their own
golden-calf version of exalting the Holy Spirit over Christ.

He names and holds
accountable spiritual counterfeiters who promote false doctrines,
perform phony miracles, or push a prosperity gospel including
Copeland, Crouch, Olsteen, Price, Roberts, Swaggart, and Swindoll
with more in-depth information on Hinn. He also explains majority
groups that include the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Oneness
Pentecostalism, and the Word of Faith Movement along with Calvary
Chapel and the Vineyard.

The book lists ways to
determine false prophets that teach false doctrine, have unrestrained
lust and unrepentant sin, and supposedly receive “revelations from
God” which are untrue or inaccurate. The author reiterates that
charismatics claim their acceptable prophets today are fallible and
non-authoritative.

Since charismatics are
expected to lose control of their mind and actions to encourage the
work of the Holy Spirit, the writer uses a plethora of Bible verses
confirming some spiritual gifts and speaking in tongues were stopped
in the New Testament and that there is no Biblical stance for “being
slain in the spirit.”

With the final chapter
being a must-read of compassion for believers caught up in the
Charismatic Movement, MacArthur begs to have doctrinal discernment
and theological accountability by verifying the Bible against these
strange beliefs.

This book was furnished by
Booksneeze in lieu of a review based on my own opinion.